3 Lessons from My First Week of Building in Public

Last weekend I launched a landing page for my new side project https://artifact.so. I decided I would try building in public to gain interest from my Twitter followers. The launch was well received and we got a good number of people sign up to the waiting list!

Now I know it's only been a week, but I thought it might be worth sharing some of my thoughts on how to ‘Build in Public’ well.

Engagement is everything

If you’re sharing your work on a platform like Twitter or Indie Hackers, engagement is everything! One of the benefits of building in public is being able to build a following for your product. The best way to gain loyal followers who many potentially become your first customers, is to give people insights that make them feel like they’re a part of the product’s journey.

Share everything

This morning I tweeted about a spark of inspiration I had late last night that resulted in an early-hours Figma design session. One of my followers quickly replied to my tweet asking to see what I designed.

In hind sight, I should’ve shared my work straight away. I was worried about what people might think of my designs once I’d made them sound so great. But 'Building in Public' is all about sharing! Being vulnerable about your work will only make people appreciate your posts and product more.

I've also found that sharing screenshots/videos is far more engaging than just talking about what you’re up to.

Which leads me to my final point…

Show, don’t tell.

Showing your development progress in visual ways with design mockups, screenshots, and videos seems to result in far higher engagement. People don't just want to hear what you're working on, they want to see it too!

Have you got any good example of Indie Hackers who are inspiring to watch build in public?